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FUR SEALS AND THE SEAL FLSHERIES 

By Charles H. Townsend 

Director .Wcc ^'orl: .\<jiiin!nm, \'cw York City 

^* 

Address before the Fourth International Fishery Congress 
held at Washington, \j. S. A., September 22 to 26, 1908 



BULLETIN OF THE BUREAU OF FISHERIES : ; : VOL. XXVIII. P. 315-322 
Document No, 661 ::::::::::::::: : : K<.iieJ February. I9I0 



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FUR SEALS AND THE SEAL FISHERIES. 



Hy CUARI.l'lS II. TuWNSliNIi, 
Dntitor \i li- \'t<>k Aiiuminni, Xriv 'Wnk ( ily. 



The history of tlic worki's seal fishcTics is larii;el\' one of wasted resources. 
Very few seaHi:g iiKlustries have been coiuhicted aceordiii.g to methods designed 
to perpetuate the race. Yet from a commercial point of view, seals are the most 
important of the carnivorous animals. As a group the\ are prol)abh,- also the 
most abundant of the larger wild mammals at the present time. It is doul^tful 
whether the herds of bison in .America and of antelopes in Africa ever exceeded 
the seals in point of numbers. They are of world-wide distribution, and 
although the fur-seal fisheries of the Xorlh Pacific have received much inter- 
national consideration during recent years, they were formerly not the only 
seal fisheries of importance. Tlu' pursuit was at one time carried on in the 
Antarctic regions as well as in the Arctic. The Antarctic sealing grounds 
have long been exhausted comiiKrciallv, liowever. 

.All seals breed on land or on ice iloes, and return, after their migrations, to 
their accustomed breeding places with great persistence. Tln'\- can seldom 
be driven entiri'ly away, stupidly lingering until Ijrought near the point of 
extermination. So certain are they to return to tlieir breeding grounds thai 
the reestalihshment of the flifferent si^ecies soon follows llie protection of these 
places. The safeguarding of depleted sealing grounds would, in fact, be a good 
business proposition even at this late day, if they could l)e protected imder the 
authority of the various governments laying claim to such lands. 

.ANTARCTIC SE.ALS. 

The various species of .\ntarctic fur seals (genus Aictocvplialits) were found 
about the southern shores and islands of South Africa, .\ustralia. New Zealand, 
and the islands of the Antarctic generally. About the close of the eighteenth 
century there sprang up a traffic in the skins of fur seals, and as the result of 
the many voyages to those distant regions enormous numljcrs of the animals 
were taken. By 1830 the supply of fur seals in the southern seas was nearh" 
exhausted, 'fhe species exists to-day as mere remnants of tlie great herds that 
were once found in those regions. 



3iS T'.ri.LKTix <>;• Tiii{ bureai.' of fisheries. 

In tiiis scalin<:; no cliscrirniiiatii)n \\'as nuuU- in the cliaracter of the seals 
takcai. All animals whose skins were of ain' \ alue were slaughtered, and the 
ne\vl\' lj()rn \'oun.;-, usually left on the killin,;' .i;rounds. died of starvation. In 
the rnsli to the .\ntaretie scalin,i; ejmunds the markets were frefjuently glutted 
and much of the catch wasted. 

"I'he South .Vfrican fur sea! (.1 ixioccpluihts </< /,i/i nidi) , fri'( [uenling small islands 
off the West coast of South .Vfrica, heeanie wvv rare from itidiscriminate serdini;'. 
It has, durini;' vqvv recent years, heen ])rotecled 1)\' the i,fo\-ernment of Cape 
Colonw The \'ield (if skins from this source has lieen a-, follows: IQ02, 1,300; 
1903, 4, Soo; 1004,7.400; 1903, 1,23,1; igoC), 12,640; H)n~, i6,7S6; 190S, 13,649. 

One resort of the .t^emis Aicloccfyl/iilus, the Galapa,£;os Islands, lyin^t; on the 
equator, aljoiit Son mile-, west of Ecuador, furnishes an especially striking; 
illustration of wasteful si-aiin^'. These si.-als (Airtori plia/ii.-, philippi) were taken 
in imjjortant numhers 1)\- earh' \'o\'ai;ers. Between iSjo and 1.SS2 the rookeries 
were again visited by sealers, and, as far as shown l)y the meager records col- 
lected from the sealers still li\'ing wlio engagetl in this lisher\', aliout 20,000 
seals wvw taken. This is of eouise a tri\'ial number as coin])ared with the 
total catch made during tliat jjeriod, the recoids of whiidi are not availaljle. 
Later vovagcs resulted in tlie killing of all the seals that could l)e found. At 
thf time of mv first \isit to the Galapagos Islands, in iSSS, I \\as informed that 
there were onh' a few seals remaining, and tliose about the uninhabited westerly 
islands of the arehijx-lago. 

It was a matter of great surprise when, in 1S97 and 1S98, a vessel returned 
to San Francisco from the Galajiagos Islands with a catch of several hundred 
fur seals. It apjiears that the fevv' that had escaped tlie slaughter of tin- last 
vovage, ilfleeii \'ears Ijcfore, had estal)lished theiuseh-es on the identical ro(_)k- 
eries from which they ha.d been driven, as comparisons of the log books of the 
vessels showed. I'nknown to anxone, the nucleus of a fine herd existed tiien.', 
whicli no doul)t could ha\'e lieeii de\-ele»|5ed into an important seal fishery if the 
fact h.ad been knoun in time to prewnt its tlestruction !)}■ raiders. It is prf>b- 
able, indeed, that a few individuals l;a\x- escaped this last slaiigliter, and with 
the ])rompt protection of the rookerii-s b\- the Government f)f Ecuador a fishery 
could yet be established. 

Another species of fur seal {Aicti>ccplia!ns loiciiscndil , llie most northerh- 
ofYshoot of the Antarctic race, formerly inhabited Guadaloiqie and other islands 
off the west coast of Lower California. From the scattered records that have 
been found it a])pears that 15,01)0 seals ha\e been taki'ii there within comjiara- 
ti\X'ly recent years. (The earlier records are not a\'ailaljl<.\) During the 
writer's visit to Ctuadaloupi', in 1S92, straggling fur seals were obser\ ed about 
the iNland, and specimens obtained prei\-ed the specier^ to be new to science. It 



FfR SEALS AND THE SEAL FISHERIES. 319 

is possible that there is a sufficient remnant to warrant tlie behef that tlie race 
could be reestabUshcd if the islands were properly protected I)y the C.o\-ernment 
of Mexico. The value of fur-seal skins taken in tropical or semitrojiical localities 
is, however, small as compared with those from cold climates. 

In all the history of Antarctic sealing there is but one chapter of wise 
management and thought for the future: The Government of I'ruguav has, 
throughout all tliese years, carefully preserved the fur-seal rookeries of Lobos 
Island, at the mouth of La Plata River, inhabited by Aiclocephaius auslialis. 
These small rookeries illustrate the good resulting from the careful protection 
of the seals upon their breeding grounds. Commercial sealing was carried on 
ut Lobos Island prior to 1820. The lessees of the island, operating imder the 
direction of the Government of I'ruguay, placed upon the London market, from 
1873 to 1Q04, 377,033 skins, or an average of over 13,000 a year, worth in lyoi 
Sioo,ooo. All these were derived from a single island less than i mile in 
length. The following data show the yield of skins from Lobos Island during 
recent years: 1902,12,922; 1903,10,994; 1904,8,349; 1905,2,025; 1906,8,398; 
1907, 4,373; i<A>S, 2,990. The Lobos seals are now menaced by pelagic sealers, 
and some vessels have been seized by the Government of l'rugua\'. 

In 188S, when in the vStraits of Magellan, I found the fur-seal herds of 
that region nearly exterminated by the hunters working among the Fuegian 
Islands. The recent catch from what is called in the trade the Cape Horn region 
is as follows: 1905, 11,190; 1906, 13,628; 1907, 16,786; 1908, 8,262. 

NORTHERN FUR SEALS. 

The history of Robbin Island, in the Okhotsk Sea, is especially noteworlhv. 
'I'his island is about 600 yards in length and less than 100 yards in width, and 
>-et incomplete records show that more than 60,000 seals ha\-e been taken there 
Ijy raiders since 1870. A remnant of this herd has remained annually to rejjop- 
ulate the rookery, which at the present time contains little more than 1,000 
seals and is protected by llie Russian Government. 

The scattered fur-seal rookeries in the chain of volcanic islands stretching 
northward from Japan, known as the Kurils, have also Ijcen destro\'ed by 
raiders during recent years. The history of the extermination of these seals, as 
furnished to the writer by men who engaged in the slaughter, is exceedingly 
interesting. Notwithstanding the fact that raids were made )ear after year, 
the scattered remnants of the herds still clung to their old breeding grounds. 
The incomplete records at hand show that more than 25,000 seals were taken 
from the Kuril Islands l)y raiders since 1880. These rookeries were visited by 
the I'nited States Fisheries steamer Alhalross in 1897, and all the rookeries 
were found to have been wiped out with the exception of one, upou which there 



320 BI'LLETIX ( >F THK RUKEAU OF FISHERIES. 

were about loo seals reniaiiiin.i(. It is Ijelieved that these will l-.e protected hv 
Japan, to which countr}- they heloni;. The seal inhabiting; Rubljin Island and 
the Kuril Archipelago is now known as C<i!/oyhi)ius cioilciisis. 

The only important strongholds of the diminishing northern fur seals 
to-day are the I'ribilof and Commander islands, in Bering Sea. The species 
established on the Commander Islands is c',i//i>ilii)ni.s uim'hh.s, \-iliile that breed- 
ing on the Pribilofs is Calloiliimts u'csrumis. Although, the two species breed 
upon islands lying in the same latitude and less than 1,000 miles apart, there is 
no connningling. The former migrates southwestward in winter along the 
Asiatic coast, while the latter migrates southeastward along the American coast. 

Upon the discovery of the fur-seal islan.d^ of Bering Sea, more than a century 
ago, seals were found in great multitudes. For many years they were killed 
indiscriminately, but the Russian Goxernment linalh- took charge of them and 
directed the hsheries in such a way that they were regularlv ])roductive. The 
Pribilof Islands in the twenty years after the accession of Alaska yielded more 
than $7,000,000, the jirice paid for the entire District. About twentv-fiye 
years ago the practice of pelagic sealing — the killing of seals in the open sea — 
developed into an extensive industry, since which time the sui>ph- of seals has 
steadily decreased. 

Although during the winter nmnths the fur-seal herds migrate into the 
Pacihc Ocean, tiiey are in sunnner located on their ancientl\- estal>lished breeding 
places in liering Sea. The hslu'rv is conducted under go\-'..Tnment super- 
vision, and a certain number of seals nia\' be killed on the inlands, selection 
l)eing made in accordance with tl;e natural habits of the animals. Fur seals are 
highly polygamous, and the rookery conununities are di\ided up into harems. 
The males arrive at the islands and fight furiously for the possession of territorw 
The females, arriving soon after the males luive established themselves, arc 
(li\ ided up among them, in numl)ers \arying from a dozen to a hundred to each 
male in extreme cases. This arrival occurs in Jime, and the \'oung are Ijorn 
the last days of June or in the early part of Julv. The young seals remain with 
their mothers until the latter part of .\ugust. The seal herd lingers about the 
islands until late in the fall, wlun tlu- .mnual movement into the I'acilic Ocean 
takes jil.ice. 

The highly polygamous haljit nf the fur seals naturalh' results in a large 
surplus (if males, which surj)lus, when the Tdokeries were in their liest condition, 
amounted to aliout ion, 000 immature- males a year e>n the I'ribiiofs and over 
35,000 a year on the Commanders. These half-grown males herd hv themselves, 
on so-called " hauling grounds" adjacent to each breeding rookery, and it is from 
them that the annual ealcli on the islanils has alwa\'s lieen made. The seals 
are quietly surrounded, and without diificulty are driven inland, entirely away 



FUR SEALS AND THE SEAL FISHERIES. -,2I 

from the rookeries of breeding seals, as easily as a band of sheep. The}' are 
killed and skinned by the natives, the skins are counted by government agents, 
and are then placed in the salt houses of the lessees of the islands for a month's 
curing, when they are shipped to London, which has always been the world's 
fur-seal market. The selecting and killing arc accomplished without noise or 
disturbance, and everything is done decently and in order. The United States 
and Russian Governments have nc\'er allowed any disturbing of the breeding 
. rookeries and have never permitted the killing of female seals. The breeding 
stock upon the islands has therefore remained undisturbed, and would, but for 
the international nuisance of pelagic sealing, have yielded forever a world supply 
of sealskins. 

Pelagic sealing, however, practiced in the open sea both in and out of season, 
permits of no selections being made, and the catch consists of }-oung and old, 
male and female. By far the greater portion, however, is female seals, for these, 
after the young are born, go to sea to feed, ranging as far as 200 miles from the 
islands and returning at more or less regular intervals to nurse their voung. The 
killing of females at this season is followed by the star\'ation of all nursing young 
on the breeding grounds, the loss of young in this manner corresponding with the 
number of mother seals taken by the sealing vessels. In ten vears pelagic sealing 
in the adjacent waters and in the Pacific Ocean destroyed the \'alue of the Pribi- 
lof and Commander islands as government properties. The seal herds are now 
so decimated thai the surplus males available for killing on the Pribilof Islands 
are less than half as many as in i<S96. 

Pelagic sealing at the present time is engaged in by vessels belonging to 
British Columl)ia and to Japan. The British Columbia fleet has greatly^flimin- 
ished in numbers as the seals have become fewer and it found the prcilits less, 
but there has been an increasing number of Japanese sealers in recent years! 
until in 1908 the latter fleet numbered .vS vessels, which took 13,197 skins.' The 
British Columbia fleet in that year mnnbered 8 vessels, and took 4,4^2 skins. 
This total 01 17,649 skins is, however, a great decrease from the pelagic catch of 
61,838 skins in 1894, and shows the results of the indiscriminate slaughter. 

So long as pelagic or indiscriminate sealing in any fonn remains, the restor- 
ation of the fur-seal fisheries will be impossible. The Bering Sea controversy 
was precipitated by the seizure by the United States Government of Canadian 
sealing vessels in Bering Sea. Later on, the matter w^as placed in the liands of 
the Tribunal of Arbitration at Paris. This tribunal having decided that the 
United States had no jurisdiction over Bering Sea outside of territorial limits, 
pelagic sealing continued in but slightly modified form. Renewed efforts have 
been made by the United States Government to put a stop to it, however. 
American citizens, a small number of whom were engaged in pelagic sealing, 

11. B. F. 1908 — ;i 



_32 2 BrLLETIN OF THE BfREAl' OF FISHERIES. 

have been prohibited from engaging in (lie piirsuit of seals at sea, and Congress 
lias passed laws prohibiting the importation of skins taken by pelagic scaling 
into the Ihiited States. 

The seals taken at sea are shot or speared, and the skiiis, thus iniurtd, are 
consequently less valuable than the land catch. 'J'he class of skin-, obtained 
under government direction on the Priljilof and Connnander islands is of the 
highest quality, the animals selected Ijcing 3-year-old males of nearly uniform 
size, killed when tlie fur is in tiest cr)ndition. This c.-.'ch in 190S amounted to 
14,964 skins, which sold at an average of S30 per skin. 



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